In 1945, the United States dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan. It was devastating, historic and, ultimately, ended the Second World War. Some 70 years later, the frightening prospect of nuclear weapons falling into hands of terrorist organizations (think ISIS or the Taliban), who have proven their appetite for brutality again and again. On Thursday, President Barack Obama will host his fourth—and final—Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, where more than 50 heads of state will entertain that very notion, and how to ensure it never happens. Two key world figures are not attending: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Iran’s absence appears more notable given the landmark nuclear deal with America and five other world powers. Experts say approaching such a terrifying possibility requires rethinking how we cope with the existence of nuclear arms. The Cold War mentality must make way for a far more fractured globe and the rise of ultra-fundamentalist Islam.
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The Other Obama Legacy
Obama is the first black president — and may well be the last, who knows — and that alone has a historical weight and impact on this generation that will play out for generations to come.
Barack, Hillary and Bernie
Keeping with tradition, President Obama is traveling to the American heartland to sell his State of the Union message. That message — the country is in better shape than the presidential campaign rhetoric makes it out to be — seems to be aimed helping his party continue to occupy the White House and burnish his legacy. As most of the media attention is focused on the fractious campaign among Republicans, the race between democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is getting closer and more contentious. How unscathed either can emerge will go a long way to determine how shiny the Obama legacy will look.
Obama’s Second Term Could Be The Most Consequential In Recent Memory
…The question today is not whether Obama has made real progress since 2012. The question is how much of that progress will last beyond 2017, when somebody else is in the White House.
Obama Tries to Define his Legacy Abroad — While the Rest of the World Tests It
…The rest of the world is testing where the president’s boundaries lie and what they might expect of the United States in the wake of his eight years of military disengagement and multi-nation approach to squelching war and violence abroad.
With Nuke Deal in Hand, Obama Urged to Reassert US Presence in Mideast
The vote counting on Congressional approval of the nuclear deal with Iran is over. When Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) announced her support for the deal Wednesday, it gave President Obama enough support to ensure the plan could not be stopped by Congress. Six years ago, Obama won the White House by promising to get the United States out of the Middle East. His legacy with the Iran nuclear deal puts the U.S. at the center of what could be a new world order.
Jimmy Carter: A Life Up and Down
“The lives of all politicians end in failure,” so said Enoch Powell, a maverick former cabinet minister in the British government. Of recent US presidents, Jimmy Carter has not been alone in failure.
Jimmy Carter’s Most Important Legacy: Female Judges
Often cited as an exemplar of post-presidency productivity, one significant aspect of his in-office legacy stands out: Carter appointed 41 female judges—five times as many as all his predecessors combined.
Judging Obama’s Record
Readers appraise his successes and failures, and muse about what could have been.